Movement and modelling of buried seed of the invasive perennial Chrysanthemoides monilifera in coastal dunes and biological control

Movement in the soil of seeds of the invasive shrub Chrysanthemoides monilifera was studied in relation to the success of proposed biological control treatments. Marked seeds were buried at depths from 0 to 6 cm and recovered after periods of 3–24 months. Survival declined with time but was higher for more deeply buried seeds. The average movement of seeds was 0.7 cm per year downwards which enhances their survival but also tends to remove them from the zone of highest likelihood of germination. A model was constructed to predict the size of the pool of potentially germinable seed under treatments including pre-dispersal predation and burning. It indicated that satisfactory control with a pre-dispersal seed predator will be achieved only if there is a < 95% reduction in seed-fall to the soil surface over the entire year. A control agent that is 100% effective for most of the year will probably be unsatisfactory if its rate of predation drops to > 90% for a part of the year (e.g. during winter when seed-fall is abundant). The effectiveness of the control could be enhanced by using intense fires to reduce the soil seed-pool and to kill many of the mature shrubs. However, the feasibility of this combination of treatments will depend on the reaction of the biological control agent to fire.     

Heritage of Value, Archaeology of Renown: Reshaping Archaeological Assessment and Significance

Heritage of Value, Archaeology of Renown: Reshaping Archaeological Assessment and Significance . Clay Mathers, Timothy Darvill, and Barbara J. Little, eds. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005. 339 pp.     

Isolation and characterization of seven microsatellite loci in Chioglossa lusitanica (Urodela: Salamandridae)

Seven polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated and characterized for golden‐striped salamander, Chioglossa lusitanica (Bocage 1864), a salamandrid endemic to the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula, from genomic libraries enriched for (GATA)₈ (GACA)₈ (ATG)₉ and (CA)₁₆. These loci were screened in 37–51 individuals from two populations. The number of alleles per locus ranged from five to 19. Heterozygosity ranged from 0.241 to 1.0. The high level of polymorphism revealed by these loci will be extremely useful for the study of population structure and evolutionary history of this species.     

Isolation and characterization of eight dinucleotide microsatellite loci from two closely related clupeid species (Alosa alosa and A. fallax)

Eight dinucleotide microsatellite loci were developed through an enrichment protocol for allis shad (Alosa alosa) and twaite shad (A. fallax). Cross‐species amplification was successful for all loci isolated. The number of alleles per locus ranged from three to nine for A. alosa and from two to seven for A. fallax, while the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.267 to 0.926 and from 0.240 to 0.727, respectively. These markers will constitute useful tools for studies of population structure and gene flow between two closely related hybridizing species.